The Jamaica Constabulary Force, JCF, and the Jamaica Customs Agency, JCA. have seized more than two tonnes of cocaine in a three-day operation at the Kingston Freeport Terminal.
Eight people are now in police custody as investigators move to dismantle the transnational crime syndicates behind the shipments.
The seizures were made between Wednesday, August 5, and Friday, August 7, during a multi-agency operation involving the JCF’s Firearms and Narcotics Investigation Division, the Jamaica Customs Agency and the Specialised Operations Branch.
Last Wednesday, police and customs officers found 885 parcels of cocaine, weighing just over 1,017 kilograms, concealed in a container destined for Spain.
The cocaine has an estimated local street value of JM $610.2 million.
Its estimated value on the European market is approximately 61 million euros, or JM $11.17 billion.
The following day, another 825 parcels of cocaine, weighing 932 kilograms, were found hidden in a container also destined for Spain.
That shipment has an estimated local street value of $559.2 million, and a European market value of approximately 55.92 million euros, equivalent to JM $10.24 billion..
And on Friday, investigators seized another 118.4 kilograms of cocaine and 256 pounds of ganja from a container destined for Florida in the United States.
The cocaine has an estimated local street value of $71 million and is valued at approximately US $3.5 million on the American market.
The JCF says since the start of this year, its counternarcotics strategy has resulted in the seizure of more than 7,226 kilograms of cocaine.
The drug is valued at approximately $4.3 billion.
The police say high-level investigations, forensic examinations and joint operations with local and international law-enforcement partners are expected to intensify as investigators work to identify and dismantle the syndicates responsible for the shipments.
Meanwhile, Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited says it’s working with the police following the major cocaine bust at the port last week.